Children and Childhood in Amparo Dávila’s Narrative

Authors

  • Jorge Antonio Muñoz Figueroa Centro de Enseñanza para Extranjeros, UNAM

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15174/rv.v13i28.516

Abstract

This paper analyses how childhood is represented in Amparo Dávila’s (1928) short stories. While it is true that infants are not protagonists in Dávila’s work, it is also necessary to mention that many of her stories show ideas that refer clichés about the childhood, such as its characteristic innocence and happiness. However, such notions are questioned in Dávila’s prose as well as in some other contemporary writers’ narratives. In a global vision, we observe that those creators who belong to the Mid-century Generation (Generación de medio siglo) deteriorate the idea of the childhood as a wonderful age; rather, they characterize it in numerous cases as a lonely time, sometimes even a neglect one. Childhood as a topic has had various reformulations since the 1950’s. Among them, the input of this talented writer from Zacatecas takes us away from the typical images of childhood and allows us to elaborate interpretations that reveal how “the home’s kings” not always bring happiness nor fully enjoy the first years of their lives.

Author Biography

Jorge Antonio Muñoz Figueroa, Centro de Enseñanza para Extranjeros, UNAM

Doctor en Letras por la UNAM. Profesor de tiempo completo del Centro de Enseñanza para Extranjeros, así como profesor de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, ambas dependencias de la UNAM. Es Candidato a Investigador Nacional en el SNI. Su área de investigación es la narrativa mexicana del siglo XX, en especial la Generación de Medio siglo, la obra de Jorge López Páez y las representaciones de la infancia; ha presentado los resultados de sus investigaciones en congresos nacionales e internacionales y ha dictado conferencias en la Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, en la Universidad de Costa Rica, en la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco, así como en los campus de Northridge y Los Ángeles de la Universidad Estatal de California. En 2015, fue profesor invitado en la Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca. Entre sus publicaciones recientes se encuentran los artículos “‘Cuánto sufren las mujeres hermosas y qué fácilmente se pierden’. Análisis de las voces narrativas de Señorita México, de Enrique Serna”, en Palabra postergada (Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, 2017); “Más allá del cuento fantástico. El tema de la infancia en la obra de Guadalupe Dueñas y Amparo Dávila”, Pirandante, Revista de Lengua y Literatura Hispanoamericana (Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, 2018), y “Las revelaciones morosas. La evocación de la infancia en dos novelas cortas de Jorge López Páez”, en Ligera de equipaje. Itinerarios de la novela corta en México (UNAM, 2019).

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Published

2021-06-08

How to Cite

Muñoz Figueroa, J. A. (2021). Children and Childhood in Amparo Dávila’s Narrative. Valenciana, 13(28), 29–56. https://doi.org/10.15174/rv.v13i28.516

Issue

No. 28 (2021): Valenciana 28 julio-diciembre 2021

Section

Artículos

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